The familiar black grill gates marked the entrance to the Sports complex and signified the end of the walk and the start of the “best part” of the “best part” of the day.I would have then started to paint the vivid pictures that in the best case would convert themselves to what people would call the “wonder goal”.

As we enter the shadows formed by the huge tree on the left and quickly scan through the ground to gauge the absentees, quickly abuse the people who would be coming in late, a familiar feeling would hit me, the feeling that says, “Welcome home son”.

I know its too commonly used and has become an insult to the English language off-late ,but i think here it fits. Its very difficult to express what i go through in those 2 or so hours in words. I would say all the guys whom i generally played with every evening were on the same level, apart from one or two, and more than the technical skills and proficiencies involved it was the free will and the love for the game that made those days “legendary”.

Usually, the evening ended with a detailed discussion of the football and some times( very rarely owing to a few nut heads) anti football that was created/witnessed.

“wake up.. Orei wake up raa baabuu( in distinct,languid,sleepy gult style) .. its time to go……jcccc…..”

the words were getting louder and clearer breaking the sacred silence of sleep that had engulfed me for the past 2 or so hours. Then suddenly the voice started to fade and hetfield’s lionlike vocals brought me back to my senses, the familiar surroundings, the twilight breaking in through the fine tweaks of my corner room. As i gathered myself and tried to shake off the sleep, i found myself staring straight at the posters on my wall. Messi and R10 wearing a look on their faces that said “It’s time.”

I would then get up , open the door get abused by reddy and prepare myself to go. After a few brief exchanges of general insti info and other trivial things. We would start.

Part 1: THE WALK

The walk refers to the walk from the hostel to the football field.

The walk is very special and close to my heart and has seen a lot of “bests” associated with itself.

During those walks were the best conversations i have had.

The Best players i have met/played against/played with.

The Best feeling, the feeling of being a carefree young proud man totally in control of his life/destiny unperturbed by the pitfalls and worries that came along, the feeling of knowing you are going to experience the happiest few hours of the day, the feeling of knowing you would be there to do what you love the most, the feeling that transcends everything.

“If he helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!” – José Mourinho’s UEFA Champions League quote sheds some light on why his relationship with Roman Abramovich was doomed to fail.

“Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife” – Arsène Wenger, manager of English UEFA Champions League club Arsenal FC, dismisses SAF’s suggestion that Manchester United FC remain the country’s top team.

“I felt fine, especially in the first half, but when you find yourself, two, 3-0 down, it’s difficult. Even Lionel Messi would struggle to do anything” – Cesc Fabregas (not Messi).

this one is hilarious

Zlatan – “First I went left, he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog.”

Zlatan – “Absolutely not. I have ordered a plane. It is much faster.” (Zlatan about the rumour that he bought a super-Porsche)

Reporter – “Do you think it’s even possible for Ajax to lose nine points in nine games?”
Zlatan – “According to my calculations it is possible to lose nine points in only three games.”

Reporter – “What would you name your son?”
Zlatan – “Zlatan Jr.”

Zlatan (about how time stopped as he stood waiting on the side line to come in against Argentina in the World Cup.) – “You could have punched me in the face, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

Reporter – “How many one night stands have you had in total?”
Zlatan – “I don’t do that stuff. For me it is romance and love…right?”

Zlatan (Answer to criticism from John Carew that Zlatan’s moves are pointless.) – “What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”

“When I arrived in London, all I said was that I am a normal manager in charge of a special group. All of a sudden I became ‘The Special One,’ but I never defined myself as that. I do not think I am the best Coach in the world, but I also don’t believe there is anyone in the world who is better than me.” José Mourinho, manager of Internazionale.

When he looks in his mirror every morning, he has to convince his image of the same thing. “I am Special. You are not better than I. No you aren’t. I am better.”

“Wherever you can make love, you can play football.” President Evo Morales of Bolivia in response to the initial FIFA altitude ban. The President gives new meaning to the mile high club in the Bolivian Andes

Its been more of a theatre of Doom for united players and faithful over the past few years.

In 2005 , it was the legendary Milan defence which was impenetrable for 180 minutes . Moreover 2005 United Side was “extra” ordinary with Carroll in goal and Silvestre as CB.

In 2007, a certain Ricardo Kaka’ destroyed united, his sheer genius in the first leg did the intended damage, although rooney’s wonder strike gave some hope at the end of the first leg.

Second Leg: Decimated by kaka’ and the Seedorf . CR7 found out why gattuso is the best at what he does!

This time i personally think the key to milan’s success would be Pato. He is more than handful for any defender in the world. Midfield battle between gattuso and fletcher would be one to watch , fletcher has a chance to learn from the master himself.

May the best team win.May united be the best team. ( Couldn’t resist).

My Heartfelt condolences to the ones who lost their lives in the pune blasts.
2 students from my Alma Mater BIT Mesra
shilpa goenka
p sindhuri were among the victims.
Pray to God to give all the strength and support to their family in this time of grief.
R.I.P

Football, as i know it, is a game that requires you to score goals,objectively speaking, The route (number of touches/passes and moves) before that is achieved is the underlying difference between teams and the defines the style of play.

Route 1

Peter Cech —-> Didier Drogba—-> thumping finish.

I think it is self explanatory. Cech pumps it long to drogba who does random things in the Air/On the jump turns, shoots and celebrates.

Chelsea try to do do funny things like pass, through ball and move to finish their quota of playing football for like 15- 20% of the game . If they score a goal in that period its nuke in utopia and they would end up scoring 3/4/5 goals. Chelsea force themselves to finish their quota and once its done route 1 takes over.

Route 1.5

As far as i ve known and seen football this is a relatively new aspect that has plagued the game. Its very difficult to describe this route pictorially , i ll still try.

X(keeper)–>Y(Defender)—> GEN chip towards the opponent penalty area—> if opponent is liverpool , ball comes back with interest,if opponent is barcalona or valencia they will keep the ball for the next 10 minutes .

The best example Y would be Rio Ferdinand , after a few backpasses to the keeper (after goalkick) Rio feels the compulsive urge to do something different and take the game forward, but owing to lack of support from others( who are totally pained by now ) and the overpowering Center Back Instinct, he produces a random chip .

Other Routes represent the graceful , fluid nature of the game which include turns, touches, other skills , passing and finally finishing.

This space will predominantly contain my views/ideas and admiration towards the beautiful game. In due course if i abuse Steve Makumahon/ Paul loosefiled/Shabby singh and other footballing pundits/coaches/players it would only be because they are unadulterated and indisputably the biggest hollow heads on Espn.

I will try my best not to pull in GEN match reports and the usual blah blah about England’s WC chances or France’s rematch and other such fictional things.